“I really liked the opportunity” - Reinier de Ridder looks back on his grappling match with Andre Galvao

Two-division ONE world champion Reinier de Ridder is arguably one of the best Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in mixed martial arts and he certainly proved that by standing toe-to-toe with a BJJ all-time great like Andre Galvao.

The two masters of the grappling arts figured in a submission grappling super-fight in the monumental ONE: X card this past March.

While the 12-minute chess match ended in a draw since neither man got a submission, it was truly a marvelous match between the pair of ground savants. In a recent appearance on the MMA Superfan, ‘The Dutch Knight’ recalled his epic match against the Atos leader, who is considered royalty in the BJJ community.

Reinier de Ridder, of course, is no stranger to sharing mats with the best in the world, since he also previously trained with Galvao’s rival Gordon Ryan and the legendary Danaher Death Squad in Texas.

The 32-year-old admitted that he was more familiar with Ryan’s game and talked about the specifics of that battle with Galvao:

“I know more about Gordon than I know about Galvao. It was just that the match was on three weeks' notice. I was just on the other side of the planet before. I had to fly back and then to Singapore again. It was all a bit rushed. I didn't have any time to prepare. But I really liked the opportunity. I got there to grapple with Galvao, a real legend. He was good everywhere. His takedowns were very good. He's very solid and hard to move around.”

Unfazed by the Brazilian legend’s accolades, de Ridder pressed the action against the BJJ virtuoso and kept a manic pace that had Galvao on his heels. The Dutchman even displayed incredible guard retention skills by escaping several of his opponent’s submission attempts.

Rewatch the amazing grappling spectacle between Reinier de Ridder and Andre Galvao below:

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Reinier de Ridder admits it’s easier to choke people out in MMA than in submission grappling

Despite already proving his worth in submission grappling, Reinier de Ridder admits he would rather focus on mixed martial arts at the moment.

The double-champ will look to submit yet another formidable foe, Anatoly Malykhin, in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5 this Friday, December 2 (US Primetime), inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

His world title defense of his light heavyweight throne is available live and for free for existing Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America.

In a separate interview with Morning Kombat, the double champ explained why hunting for submissions in MMA and grappling exclusive matches are worlds apart.

“To be honest, it’s a lot easier sometimes to set some stuff up. I grappled [Andre] Galvao last year. In grappling, sometimes it’s hard to get to places, because they can really stall. And then in MMA, once I get on top, I can get some elbows involved, get some punches involved and then I can really force them to move. Then that elbow opens up some more stuff. Sometimes it’s easier to choke people in MMA than it is in grappling.”

Catch the full interview here: